“What?” you may be thinking. “Has Melissa flipped her lid? Everyone knows you can’t buy happiness!”

Ah, but they’re wrong. You can buy happiness. Just not in the way you probably think.

Read on…

True, accumulating stuff is not the route to happiness — I’ll be the first to grant that. But money can, indeed contribute to happiness.

And yes, I submit that actually spending money can lead to happiness.

I’m not just talking about the “indulge in a modest splurge” recommendation that Gretchen Rubin makes in her best-selling book, The Happiness Project, either. My $10 OXO grater gives me a sparkly moment of happiness every time I use it, but that’s not the kind of happiness I mean.

I mean an overall sense of well-being. A baseline of “happy,” as opposed to a baseline of “meh” or even worse, a baseline of “low-grade misery.”

That’s the kind of happiness I’m talking about, and yes, you can buy it.

(With some caveats.)

Here’s the thing: as I’m writing about in my upcoming e-book, one of the keys to happiness for Creatives (and for everyone, really) is do the things that make you happy (which for Creatives, would obviously include doing their creative thing(s)).

Pretty (ahem) obvious, right?

Except the problem is, a lot of people don’t do the things that make them happy. Resistance gets in the way, and they just never make the time.

(I’m not going to go into why they don’t make the time in this particular post, but given that getting people doing their creative thing is pretty much my biggest passion in life (along with doing my own creative things, of course), you can rest assured it’s a pretty hot topic in these here parts, so poke around, or just stay tuned, and I guarantee you’ll hear more from me on the subject.)

What if, though, you could buy something that would help you do the thing that makes you happy?

Voilá! You just bought yourself some happiness, darlin’!

Of course, there’s a caveat:

Just buying the thing is not enough. You actually have to use it too.

Thought experiment: Say you’re passionate about, oh, golf (ex-husband, anyone?). You’ve played a bit, and you like the idea of playing more, so you buy yourself a fancy set of golf clubs.

Which spend the next several years gathering dust and cobwebs in the garage.

That, my friend, is not going to cut it (as my ex-husband would probably be the first to tell you).

Golf clubs represented the kind of life my ex wished he had, as a person who had the time made the time to play golf. But owning the clubs did not transform him into someone who made time to do things like play golf.

What my ex-husband really needed was transformation. Stuff (in the form of golf clubs) was not enough.

Same thing with the expensive mountain bike, 20-foot sail boat, and vintage Porsche. But I digress.

Now imagine if my ex-husband took the money he’d spent on those golf clubs and invested it instead in lessons from a golf pro. And imagine that he actually scheduled and took those lessons.

With one swipe of his credit card (and granted, some wrangling of his calendar), he just transformed himself from Someone Who Wishes He Did Fun Things Like Play Golf [whether or not YOU think golf qualifies as a Fun Thing is beside the point; bear with me here] into Someone Who Actually Plays Golf.

(Okay, he’d still have to rent or buy some clubs, so he couldn’t take all the money he’d spent on the original set of clubs, but hopefully you can see where I’m going with this.)

Money buys transformation, which buys happiness.

In short, buying stuff: not enough.

Buying transformation, though, that’s da bomb.

It’s sure worked in my own life. When I wanted to transform from a Person Who Doesn’t Know How To Do Calligraphy into a Calligrapher, I spent my money on as many classes, workshops, conferences, and books I could get ahold of, and dove into them like my life depended on it.

I also bought enough tools and materials to stock a good-sized walk-in refrigerator. And some of them I needed, to be sure, in order to master my craft. But the tools alone, without the inspiration and motivation to use them, might as well have been locked away permanently in that proverbial walk-in refrigerator.

The classes and workshops and conferences and books inspired and motivated me to keep at it. (Plus they were just plain fun along the way!) They were the catalyst I needed to transform myself. And that transformation — especially the process of transformation; the pursuit of mastery more so even than the achievement of it — made me very happy indeed.

Money bought transformation, which bought happiness.

When I wanted to transform myself from a Person Who Doesn’t Know How To Sing Jazz into a Jazz Singer, I spent my money on classes and CDs and concerts and music camps and nights at the local open mike to hone my craft. Which were fun and wonderful in and of themselves, AND they inspired a transformation that made me very happy.

Money bought transformation, which bought happiness.

When I wanted to bring my great passion for inspiring others to the world in a way that would nourish my audience and myself, I spent my money on seminars and classes and workshops and e-books and membership sites that helped me pursue mastery in all the various and sundry tools and knowledge I’d need to realize my vision.

All of which have helped transform me from a Person With A Vision But No Clear Path To Realizing It into a Creative Thought Leader Building A Following And Making My Mark On The World. Which, in turn, has made me very happy.

Money bought transformation, which bought happiness.

Of course, I’m still very much a work in progress in each of the above examples (and believe me, there are plenty more where those came from). But the operative word here is progress. And spending money on all of the above helped me make some in a big way.

And yeah, if I’d bought all those courses and camps and conferences and stuff and hadn’t invested myself in any of them, no amount of money would have helped. So money alone still isn’t the answer.

But used wisely, it can be part of the answer. If you buy something, and you use it, and that helps you do the thing that lights your fire and makes you feel alive, that, I daresay, is money well-spent!

Which is something to consider as we launch ever deeper into holiday spending madness.

Tell me, have you ever bought transformation? What have you spent money on that made you happy?

Aaaaaand, if you’re looking for inspiration and transformation, I may have just what you need. Visit the recently re-stocked “Get Fired Up” Shop, or just scroll down for a list of inspirational and transformational goodies I’m pleased and proud to be offering right now.

PS – Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!

—-

Buy Yer Happiness Here!

In order of most time-sensitive, here’s what I got that you might want to get your paws on:

Ready to get fired up? Are you dying to do that creative thing you’ve been so hungry to do for oh, so long, but feeling a little stuck? You don’t have to try to do it alone! I created the Creative Ignition Club just for you, and other Creatives just like you. It’s a creative recharge, creative toolbox, and creative support community all in one.

All memberships come with my 30-day kick-start, the Creative Ignition Kit, and memberships of 3 months or longer also get my Playshop-In-A-Box for free ($37 value).

Click to join now — Early-Bird Holiday Special pricing ends Friday!

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The Day of Genius (link opens in new window) is a day-long virtual retreat, co-produced by Michelle Nickolaisen of Let’s Radiate, to help you shake off holiday stress and get your New Year off to the right start. Focus on you, clarify your true values, create heart-centered goals, establish habits that stick, all in a relaxed, supportive environment. You get a full day of live, streaming video AND recordings of all seminars to review on your own time, whether or not you’re able to attend live. Plus workbooks, worksheets, and the opportunity for individual coaching / “hot-seating.”

Oh, and buy a premium ticket and you get a 1-month membership in the Creative Ignition Club for free! (Plus some other cool bonuses.)

Click to get your ticket now — Early-Bird Special pricing ends Friday!

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Personally, I don’t care if you want to make money from your art or not. My biggest passion is just to get you doing your creative thing. You might never want to sell it, and that’s cool.

But I’m also passionate about deprogramming the “starving artist” myth that keeps so many artists from achieving the kind of success they deserve. If you do have a dream of earning a real income from your art, ArtEmpowers.Me, the online course and membership site I co-created with Cory Huff of the Abundant Artist, will teach you how.

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Playshop-In-A-Box includes all the content from the live telephone Playshop (Playshop!) I offered last September. Treat yourself to some time to play and make art. It’s like a spiritual bubble-bath! Includes 6 tutorial videos, the 90-minute Playshop mp3, and the opportunity to show your stuff right here on the blog if you like.

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Stuff! Yes, indeed! I don’t just have digital goodies — I’ve got your 3D stuff right here.

But inspirational stuff. A real book (like with paper and everything), beautifully-printed in full color, with 100 original artworks from my 2011 ArtSpark newsletter, to inspire you to get cracking doing your creative thing.

Click here or on the image to preview the entire book.

Use the code HOLIDAY to get 15% off your order, or get 20% off any two books with the code GIVEGIFTS, through Nov. 30.

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Want more? Check out the “Get Fired Up” Shop.

You know that thing, when you lie down and close your eyes, and there’s this shift in consciousness that happens? What’s it called…

Oh, yeah: sleep!

That’s what I’m hoping to catch up on this week, after the marathon I’ve been running nonstop for the past.. week? Two weeks? Who remembers anymore?

I didn’t do the worst job ever of keeping myself from being sucked into the creative obsession cave. But I’ll confess didn’t do the best job, either.

It’s been a crazy push, but the engagement of my beta-testers in the brand-new Creative Ignition Club site has been hugely gratifying. And apparently, this project was just due.

I said to someone over the phone today that it felt kinda like I’d been quietly gestating this thing for 5 months, tra-la-la-la-la-la, wondering if/when it would ever happen, and was I a flake, and should I just let it go, and then suddenly it was like Ack! You are fully dilated, honey! 9 centimeters! This baby is COMING OUT NOW!

Sometimes life is like that, I guess. At least for me.

And so it is that, with great pride and a certain amount of exhaustion, I officially unveil for you my latest baby:

Check out the very detailed sales page while I head into that room with the big soft thing that normal people spend a third of their days lying on, and get re-aquainted with that sleep thing.

(Maybe next time I’ll make a little more progress on keeping out of the creative-obsession cave. Every little bit helps, right?)

PS – The cart is open for new members ONLY today and tomorrow – I shut it down at 11:59pm November 1. So if you think you might be interested, or know someone who is, you won’t want to dilly-dally. Just sayin’.

It started off very innocently.

A simple idea, really. Just a little tool box for creatives, to kick-start them into a daily creative practice. Just for one month.

A kit to get them creatively ignited…

Because if you can hang onto a daily practice for a month, it’s pretty much proof that you can hang onto it for as long as you want.

And my goal is to get everyone with a hunger to create doing their creative thing.

So I dreamed, and tinkered, and started working like mad.

(Thank goodness for circuit-breaker boyfriends!)

But as these things so often do, what started off small and innocent, quickly grew to something much bigger and… well… downright powerful!

Here’s how it happened:

Me the Innocent: “Hmmm… My Creative Ignition Circle members get so much out of the group interaction, on the phone and online… Wouldn’t it be awesome to offer some kind of online forum and maybe a couple of conference calls for the first group of Creative Ignition Kit buyers?”

Me the Manic Dreamer: “Yeah! But you know, a forum is so dry and… linear. So un-aesthetic. What would be really awesomelicious is if we could create some kind of hangout that feels more like the secret Facebook page where Circlers hang out. Where we can post pictures and videos and have them show up right there in the feed, instead of having to dig through a bunch of text to find stuff we want to look at.

Me the Innocent: “Ahh, yes. That would be great! I wonder if there’s anything like that available…”

Mmm… That dangerously delicious question: “I wonder…?” When Me the Manic Dreamer gets hold of a notion, it all-too-often triggers an obsessive-compulsive quest to Figure Stuff Out.

[Read: Manic searching of the Net-that-is-Inter for a Facebook-like platform for my Kit buyers, followed by discovery of said platform, followed by Multiple Unsuccessful Attempts to make platform play nice with blog software, accompanied by much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair.]

Usually followed by a moment of throwing my hands in the air and giving up entirely.

[Read: Firm decision to Just Stick With a Forum, dammit.]

Followed in turn by an upsurge of renewed determination. I Will. Make. This. Work.

And extreme-sport-like climbing of technological learning curves.

[Read: Several manic-obsessive insomniac nights and early mornings putting. Up. A. Brand. New. Website. {creativeignitionclub.com, in case you're wondering}]

And that’s how the Creative Ignition Club was born!

A week ago, it was a “hmm… wouldn’t that be nice someday?” dream that I didn’t quite believe was possible.

Today, it’s an actual reality.

A home for anyone with a hunger to create and a big heart. (Because it’s about supporting each other, having each others’ backs, lifting each other up so that each one of us rises with the tide.)

A way to spread the deliciousness of my Creative Ignition Circles out to more people.

(Because after all, there’s only one of me, and I only take 4 members in a Circle at a time.)

From Innocent to Powerful

Now, instead of offering an online forum and a couple of conference calls just for the first group of Creative Ignition Kit buyers, I am delighted to announce the Creative Ignition Club, where people can get sparked by the Kit (included with every Club membership), but stay stoked by the community.

After all, my Circlers continue to meet up online, even after their 2-month session is over. A community of passionate, loving, supportive creatives has already started sprouting. Let’s water it!

So what is the Creative Ignition Club, anyway?

Glad you asked!

It’s open-heartedness and sharing. It’s playfulness and experimentation. It’s vulnerability and safety. It’s validation and accountability and empowerment and self-love.

In a nutshell, it’s a vibrant community of creatives. And a lot more.

What happens in the Creative Ignition Club?

Lots of stuff. Here’s a snapshot:

• There’s a Forum that’s much richer and juicier than your typical online forum. A digital home where we share what’s going on in our creative lives, help each other brainstorm, work on whatever gets in the way and push each other forward toward our biggest visions for ourselves.
• Amazing, brilliant, big-hearted people, who actively support each other. The love and brilliance in this group is a-ma-zing.
• Really, really good listeners, with ideas and possibilities to suggest that you may never have imagined in your wildest dreams.
• Smaller Groups inside the larger community, where sub-circles of members can interact around specific interests, topics and themes. (Or not. Some people hang out only in the smaller Groups; others stick with the main one. Some people float in between. Up to you.)
• Did I mention that YOU can also create your own Groups? Yep. You can. Want a Group just for left-handed German-speaking book artists who also juggle? Go for it!
• Every month you get to rendezvous with me in a Club-wide conference call, where I put on my X-ray Vision Goggles and help get people past their Sticking Points, and everybody gets to contribute.
• We also do a Playshop every month, where we rendezvous on the phone again, but this time to do our creative thing. I create a bubble of safety for everyone, we kick the Suck Duck out the door, and we all go play in the Creative Sandbox for a set amount of time. Then we re-convene to check in and do it all again. Then we re-convene (again) to check in and say goodbye. (Everyone is pretty high at this point, while being at the same time also totally grounded. It’s really cool.)
• You get answers. And insights. And ideas. And epiphanies. And earth-shaking paradigm shifts. Sometimes partnerships spring up. It’s amazing.
• You also get a powerful kick-start, in the form of the Creative Ignition Kit – a whole toolbox of goodies and inspiration to keep you doing your creative thing every day for a whole month:
• Daily emails to inspire you and keep you on track (very brief, to keep the focus on your creative time!)
• A hand-drawn (by me!) downloadable workbook/journal, to chart your journey
• A hand-drawn (also by me!) downloadable wall chart, to check off your commitment goal each day
• A hand-drawn (by me too!) downloadable Commitment Contract, to concretize your commitment to your creative self
• A weekly video to keep you jazzed, and keep the Resistance at bay
• A meditation mp3, to get you grounded and clear and ready to work (or play!)
• A special “Emergency Pack” to be opened only in case of emergency (ie, if you miss a day of your commitment)
• There are also some cool bonuses, like the fact that you get first dibs and super-special pricing on new products and programs, and you even get to help me develop some of them.
• Plus a $50 discount on any Inner Circle/Creative Ignition Circle group coaching mastermind as long as you’re an active member.
• Oh, and 3-month and 12-month members also get my Playshop-In-A-Box – the recording of the original Playshop I offered in September, including 6 tutorial videos. (Which will soon be on my shop shelves with a price tag of $37, fyi.)
• And of course, you get to interact with me and ask me any questions you want whenever I’m hanging out in the Club.

All that (and more) for $54 for 1 month, $72 for 3 months, or $198 for a full year. (And the first three members who sign up or a full year get a 1/2-hour private phone or Skype session with me.)

That’s just a taste. Just words. You really have to experience it to know what it’s like.

And now you can.

Or soon, at least. Monday, to be exact. That’s when I’m opening the doors to new members.

(But if you already know this is for you, sign up here to get on the waiting list, and I might just let you in a day or two early…)

As for me, I’m headed to bed for some much-needed rest…

PS – Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!

During the decade+ that I spent building up my wedding art business, there were many years when I made my living from the art I made for clients, but I didn’t make any art to feed my soul.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Once a year I did make art for me: at the Friends of Calligraphy annual spring retreat.

The Magic of the Retreat

Every year (with one, painfully memorable exception), I removed myself from daily life for 5 days to convene with 29 other calligraphers and artists and just create.

The retreat is totally non-directed: We work together for the week in one big room we call the Scriptorium, but each person brings whatever project or projects they want to work on. People paint, practice lettering, draw, read, write, sew, embroider, take photos, work on scrapbooks…

It’s heavenly, and I’m always incredibly productive during those 5 days.

Part of the reason is, of course, that I’m totally removed from daily life and distractions – I have no obligations to anyone but myself, and (gourmet!) meals are provided, so I can focus 100% on whatever project I want.

But another part of why the Retreat is so magical is the fact that it’s done in community.

The Power of Community

I could rent a cabin somewhere and take a solo retreat.

In fact, there was a week years ago when I had a beach house all to myself between weekend teaching gigs in southern California. I had nothing to do but rest, walk and make art. And yes, I was productive.

But there’s something about creating in community with others that has a magical, energizing effect.

There’s almost an electric charge in the air at a creative retreat, just from being surrounded by other people engaged in doing their creative thing.

And it doesn’t even have to be in-person

The power of community is, well, powerful, even if you’re not physically in the same room with other people.

Case in point: I gave a telephone Playshop a few weeks ago – essentially a 90-minute bubble of time for participants to play and make art. And even though the participants couldn’t see or talk to each other, several commented to me afterwards that they were inspired and energized just knowing there were other people on the line who were also playing and creating at the same time.

In a similar vein, Jonathan Fields mentioned in his talk at the World Domination Summit in June that he uses a meditation timer iPhone app that shows how many other people are using the app right now. Just knowing that somewhere on the planet, 5 or 23 or 317 other people are also meditating is inspiration and motivation all in one to sit down and meditate yourself!

Online Creative Challenges

That’s also where the power of online challenges comes from. The combined energy of the group is like a wave – you can just grab your metaphorical boogie board and ride along. It’s much easier – and more fun – than to trudge forward on your own through what often feels like a desert.

NaNoWriMo

12 days from now is the 2011 start of one of the most famous of online challenges: National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo (or even NaNo) for short.

Every November, thousands of authors and would-be authors from around the globe (200,500 last year) commit to cranking out a 50,000-word novel, from scatch, in just 30 days.

Sounds a little crazy, huh?

In fact, it’s a stroke of genius.

In addition to providing a way to keep track of your progress, the NaNoWriMo website offers an online forum for participants to exchange advice and writing tips, as well as ways for participants to meet up for in “real life.”

Community. Community. Community.

But even if they never post to the forums or join a group write-in, everyone who signs up for NaNoWriMo gets a certain amount of propulsion just from knowing that other people – hundreds of thousands of other people – are right there with them, putting in their daily 1,666-word writing commitment. (That’s how many words you’d have to write every day for 30 days to get to 50,000.)

NaNoWriMo may be one of the best known, but it’s far from the only community challenge out there. Not into writing fiction? Me either (though who knows, I may add that to my list of passions someday, Passion Pluralist that I am!).

Never fear – there are challenges galore for every creative pursuit you can imagine. Just do a Google search, and you’ll find hundreds. Thousands.

Many people have written to tell me they’ve taken on my own little 15 Minutes a Day creative challenge.

So far, though, there hasn’t been a very conscious sense of community around it.

That’s about to change.

Time for Some Creative Ignition

At the end of October, just in time to ride the draft coming off of NaNoWriMo starting November 1, I’m going to offer a special new goody to help you stick to your creative commitments to yourself.

It’s called the Creative Ignition Kit, and I designed it as a 30-day creative recharge, to get you – and keep you – doing your creative thing for a full month.

Because you know you want to.

You know how much better you feel when you actually do the creative thing you’re most passionate about… but which is all too easy to put off.

And keep putting off.

Posting my 15 Minutes a Day creative challenge out there as an open invitation was great, but I realized I wanted to give you more tools, more of a sense of community and connection, to help you stoke that creative fire and keep it burning.

So I created the Creative Ignition Kit.

It’s a challenge with a much smaller goal than a 50,000-word novel.

The goal is just this: that you make time every day for 30 days to play in the Creative Sandbox. With your Bliss of choice, whatever it is.

Whether you paint, or draw, or write, or play guitar, or take photographs, or sculpt, or make jewelry, or write songs, or do macrame, I want to see you doing it regularly. Ideally every day.

Because I know how much happier that makes YOU, and I know that when YOU’RE happy and energized, everyone around you feels it. And let’s face it, that makes the whole world go better.

If you’re ready to stop pussyfooting around, I invite you I challenge you to commit to just one month of doing your creative thing every day – even for just 15 minutes.

But I’m not just going to challenge you, I’m also going to help you!

The Creative Ignition Kit combines a special (hand-drawn) journal for you to keep track of your commitment (and importantly, how it feels to keep that commitment), with daily check-in emails to keep you inspired and on track (very brief, to keep your energy on your creative work!).

Plus there are inspirational videos every week.

And an mp3 meditation to help you get grounded and centered and ready to work play.

And “Purely Optional Prompts” in the journal pages to give you something to springboard off of, if you’re drawing a blank.

And because I understand the power of community, this initial, “Riding the Wave of NaNoWriMo” offer of the Creative Ignition Kit also comes with a private online forum to connect with other creatives who are taking the challenge. Get advice and moral support, and even share what you create with other challengers.

I also appreciate all too well that the best-laid plans are sometimes disrupted, so I’m including a special “Emergency Pack” to be opened only if you fall off the wagon and miss a day of your commitment.

Taking on a creative challenge, after all, should not be a tool to beat yourself up! It should help you feel successful and empowered! So if you “blow it,” I’ve got you covered – just crack open the “Emergency Pack” and I’ll help get you back on track.

I’ve even created a commitment certificate for you to print, sign and date, to get your commitment to yourself in writing.

Last, but not least, for this first time that I offer the Creative Ignition Kit I’m including 2 hour-long telephone chats for participants to ask questions, get coaching and advice, and just connect with other challengers. (And yes, they’ll both be recorded, so if you can’t make it you’ll still get to listen in after the fact.)

Sound cool?

The shopping cart will be open to the public for 2 days only, Monday, October 31 and Tuesday, November 1.

But if you sign up on the list below you’ll get a chance to buy before everyone else, and at a lower price.

Sign up now for first dibs and early-bird pricing on the Creative Ignition Kit.

Yes! I want 1st dibs on the kit!

 

That’s it for this dispatch! I’ll keep you posted.

Now go get creating!

Creative Ignition Circle FAQs

Q: What if I’m up to the challenge, but November’s not good timing for me?

A: You can still buy the kit, and either change the rules for yourself to accommodate your schedule (for example: “I commit to 3 days a week for 20 minutes”), or if you prefer I can set the 30 days of emails to start for you at a later date. Note, however, that the forum will only be up and running during November and for a short time after.

More questions? Just ask!

PS – Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!

Yesterday Cory Huff and I hosted the last of three “Game-Changer Calls” for artists. We’re both sick to death of the Starving Artist Myth, and decided to combine our unique super-powers and join forces to make a difference for artists, starting with these calls.

If you didn’t get a chance to hear the calls, here’s what we covered: on Call #1, Cory interviewed me about how I built an art career that ironically left me pretty demoralized (and in debt!), and how I turned my life around by listening to my heart and following my true Blisses.

On Call #2, I grilled Cory – an internet marketing and social-media whiz as well as an artist himself – about how the Internet has forever changed the way that artists interact with collectors and art buyers, and how artists can take advantage of the Web’s utility to form direct connections with fans. That call was packed with information, specifically around the 5 things every artist needs to sell art online.

And finally, in Call #3 yesterday, we gave three artists’ websites a live critique, offering concrete suggestions for specific steps to make them more effective at building a fan base and selling their work.

I have been so touched by the response to these calls! We’ve gotten emails from all over the globe, thanking us for the information, the encouragement, the inspiration. Artists of all kinds really resonated with our message that yes, artists really can take charge of their own career and create the life they want.

We’re not done yet.

It is our distinct pleasure to now share with all of you that Cory and I are continuing our work changing artists’ lives with the launch of ArtEmpowers.Me, a community for creative artrepreneurs who have a burning desire to turn their passion into a career.

At the end of last year, I opened the doors to the Thriving Artists Project, my gift to artists and creatives – a membership site offering community, support, tools and inspiration to bust the Starving Artist mindset. I’m thrilled to now share with you ArtEmpowers.Me. It’s everything that tTAP was, combined with Cory’s years of experience and expertise in marketing and social media for artists, and all the lessons and content he created for his own membership site, The Abundant Artist Community.

Now we’ve merged our two communities into something even better: ArtEmpowers.Me

ArtEmpowers.Me is built to help artists of all stripes learn how to sell their art and creative work online, and turn their art business into a satisfying career. All while maintaining a sustainable creative practice – because a successful creative career requires that you get creating in addition to getting business savvy!

I like to think that between the two of us, we can get you sparked, stoked, creating, and thriving from your art!

If you’re curious to see what it’s all about, check out ArtEmpowers.Me, and let me know if you have any questions!

PS – Please share this post with anyone you think could benefit from it. Together we can change the game for artists!

No video today, guys. I spent all my video-making time making videos for my upcoming…

Playshop!

Playshop! Playshop! Playshop!

Sorry, I just love that word, and can’t stop saying it…

Consider this the official announcement that I am now taking registrations for my very first, inaugural, original, premiere playshop!

Yep, the sign-up page is up and ready for sign-upping. Check it out right here.

(And yes, I know “sign-upping” is not a word. Even a hyphenated word. But it’s late, and I’m punchy.)

That’s announcement numero uno.

Announcement numero two-o

…is that I did the first of three New Art Conversation calls with Cory Huff of The Abundant Artist on Tuesday, and it went GREAT! We must have really struck a chord, because yowza, did we get a lot of callers!

The first half of the call Cory interviewed me about my journey from miserable to thriving, which was great fun. Then we took questions during the second half. And great questions they were! I can’t wait to hear the questions we get next time.

If you weren’t able to make it to Tuesday’s call, no worries – you can still sign up for the next two calls (which are today, Sept. 8, and Tuesday, Sept. 13, both at 4:00pm PST) AND just for signing up you’ll get a recording of Tuesday’s call, too!

Just click here to get on the list and be sure to follow the instructions to complete your registration and get your unique dial-in number and PIN!

Free Coaching!

Oh, yeah, remember: at the end of each call, I’m doing a random drawing to give away a free 1/2-hour coaching session with yours truly. Patrice was the lucky winner from Tuesday’s call – congratulations, Patrice!

You could be next!

Plus Cory and I have some super-extra-juicy surprises waiting for you in call number three (if you’re on the list, you already got an email with deets about one of the surprises. I’ll say no more here. You gotta sign up for the calls to get more info.)

Okay, I’ve got to get my beauty sleep so my skin is all glowy and smooth for the upcoming call. (Heh.)

That’s it for this dispatch!

PS – Yes, in case you were wondering, the art at the top of this post represents my week. Two major announcements=intensity!

PPS – The ever-perceptive Vas pointed out that the piece above almost looks like a map. It does, doesn’t it? What else do you see in it?

When was the last time you played?

I mean Just-For-You-To-Make-A-Mess-With-Your-Creative-Thing play.

As recently as last summer, if you’d asked me that, I’d have said “Way too long ago..” Maybe you can relate.

But even if you’ve taken up my 15 Minutes a Day creative challenge and are making time every day for play, wouldn’t it be nice to have a longer chunk of time?

Sometimes that seems so hard to come by, doesn’t it?

For years, the only time I had any time to play at making art was at my annual calligraphy retreat in March. (Did you catch that? Annual. As in, once a year. My only time to play at all.) 5 days in a beautiful retreat center, a 90 minute drive away. Gourmet meals, no phones, no computers and nothing on the agenda except to make art at my very own work play station.

Bliss.

Every year I would come home determined to create a home retreat for myself, once a month.

Or maybe once a quarter.

Or even just once…

It never happened.

There’s something about signing up for something, committing to it publicly (with my pocketbook, no less!), setting aside time on the calendar to get completely away from all distractions.

You would not believe the amount of art I would come home with! And even better, the ideas! the inspiration!

I’m always so recharged and refreshed after the retreat that it feels like I’ve had a bubble bath for my spirit. “Calgon, take me away!”

Announcing…

Which is why I’m brewing up some retreats of my own, to offer YOU.

Sometime down the road, I’ll be hosting in-person retreats and workshops (I’ll let subscribers know about that first, so sign up in the form at the upper right if you’d like info when I’ve got it).

But first, I’m offering a teeny, tiny taster – a retreat that won’t require you to drive or fly hundreds of miles to attend.

A Playshop!

What if you could get a mini-retreat, a playshop to experiment with paper and paint in the community of other creative souls?

Right in your own home.

Well, now you can!

At 1:00 pm on Tuesday, September 27, I’m offering the very first of what I hope will be many playshops.

Play, Flow, Write, GO! A telephone playshop in improvisational art for the soul

We’ll spend 90 minutes letting go of perfection, focusing on the process, and just painting/drawing/writing our little hearts out.

PLUS: I’ll share the secret techniques I use to create the art for my not-quite-daily ArtSparks (like the pieces shown right here).

And to get the most fun and play out of our time on the phone together, I’m going to give you all the goods in exclusive videos in advance of the actual playshop. So you can get all my secret techniques on your own time and be ready to just PLAY when we gather together (virtually) on the 27th.

These purely optional videos will show you:

• How to stretch watercolor paper so it won’t buckle and curl up when it gets wet with paint
• My favorite materials and where to get them
• The process I use to create my ArtSpark pieces, from start to finish
• How I add words to my art

It may be an entirely different way of working playing for you, which, if you tend to be a product-oriented perfectionist (as I am), you might find incredibly liberating.

And that’s before the actual playshop!

When we’re on the phone together (or when you’re listening to the recording later, if you can’t make the actual call), I’ll create a bubble for us of safety and encouragement, and you’ll have time to try out the techniques in the video, or just play however you want.

We’ll also have a couple of times to check in with the group, and if you feel like sharing any of your creations, you’ll get to participate in an exclusive post-playshop show right here on the blog, just by emailing me pics of what you made.

The details again:

Tuesday, September 27
1:00-2:30 pm (Pacific Time)
(That’s 2-3:30 Mountain, 3-4:30 Central, 4-5:30 Eastern)

Oh, yeah, and the price: just $30, which includes unlimited access to the bonus video tutorials forever. AND the exclusive Playshop Participants Art Show here on Living A Creative Life.

Plus I’ll send a recording of the call to everyone who registers, so you’ll still be able to take the playshop, whether you can make the call live.

Sound fun? I’ll be opening the cart in a few days. Sign up here if you’d like first dibs:

Name:

Email:

 

Let’s just say that my backyard is not as well-tended as it could be. But if I decided to get all Sunset and Gardener’s World, it could totally rock.

All it would take is commitment.

But the real key is ongoing commitment, right? A one-time garden clean-up would be great for a short time, but it would leave me with a weedy, overgrown garden again in just a few weeks or months. A really awesome garden requires, err, regular gardening.

That’s how your creative life is like my backyard.

It might be weedy and neglected, or it might be flourishing and thriving. It all depends on how consistently you commit (and re-commit) to tending it.

There’s no magic formula (even if it looks from the outside like other people have one). It’s simply a matter of just committing and re-committing. Over. And. Over. Again.

Watch the video for the 3D version.

(And tell me, am I the only one who didn’t quite get this concept for way too long?)

The challenge, of course, is that life seems to conspire to dissipate our commitments.

Unless you’re superhuman, you need tools and support to keep bringing your focus back to what’s important. To keep you following your Bliss(es).

• People who get you and support you.
• Books, music, blogs, magazines that inspire you.
• Tried and true techniques to get you creating.
• Places to go for cheering-on and encouragement.

It helps beyond measure just to have loving attention from other people who believe in you. Who can listen, offer feedback, help you suss out for yourself what is going to be best for you.

It also helps beyond measure to have someone else holding you accountable for your commitments to yourself.

Which is exactly why I’m starting up (drumroll, please)…

The Very First Ever Creative Ignition Circle!

It’s finally here! A private group coaching mastermind facilitated by yours truly. (Can you tell I’m excited?)

Creative Ignition Circles are limited to 4 people only. (At the time of this writing, I’ve got just one space left in the evening group, fyi.) If you’re at all intrigued, click here for the full scoop. The first private phone meeting is August 17.

A Secret Facebook Group has already been created just for Circle members, and I’m getting practically giggly thinking about the goodies I have in store for them. (Shhh!) Members are emailing to let me know that joining the Circle has already created a shift. Laureen wrote:

I joined up, and all of a sudden I feel new energy and like there are new futures waiting.

Yep, that’s what happens when you take your creative self seriously.

Imagine, two months of focused attention to help charge your creative engines and keep you re-committing and moving forward.

What could you accomplish? How might something like this affect the garden that is your creative life?

PS – If you’d like more info on the upcoming Circles, click here. If you’d like to get on the advance notice list to get first dibs on the next Creative Ignition Circle, click here.

Note: If you’re in a hurry, scroll down for time-sensitive info. Just sayin’.

This weekend marked the half-way point in the crucible that is Action Studio. The 36+ cast members inside are all awhirl, heads spinning with new visions of who we are and what our businesses are all about.

I signed up for the 30-day course with the goal of getting clear on my business message and direction. Turns out that was the easy part: two days in, and mission accomplished!

Now comes the hard part of actually implementing that clarity.

Part of that is the long-overdue website overhaul, the new home page design, the reams of re-writing.

But perhaps the hardest part is letting go of some things to make room for others.

What I am not

Inside Action Studio, Sinclair has made space for us to look at not just what we’re really good at, but what we really, really want.

Um, hello. This is what this entire Living A Creative Life endeavor is about! I started this damn blog as part of my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want.

And yet, somehow along the way I got off track. Waylaid by stuff I’m good at, but isn’t really in alignment with my deepest desires.

As Action Studio special guest star Dyana Valentine put it on a call last Wednesday, “Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have any business doing it.”

Amen.

So, a confession: I am not an art marketing expert.

Nor do I want to be.

Close, but not quite

I created my first “digital offering,” the Thriving Artists Project, because I wanted to learn from other creatives who have built sustainable, thriving businesses from their creative passions.

I wanted to inspire myself, and all creatives, to bust the starving artist mindset once and for all. I knew that providing creatives with role models – people who are already doing what we’ve been told is impossible – would be powerful medicine.

Plus I thought living out my Terry Gross fantasies would be hella fun.

I was right on both counts.

What I didn’t foresee was that creating the Thriving Artists Project would make me feel like I had something to live up to. Like I was supposed to be an expert in art marketing. Like I magically needed to know everything, have all the answers.

Intellectually, I know this is ridiculous. But the feelings were there. I felt… uncomfortable. Like wearing someone else’s clothes that don’t quite fit.

Don’t get me wrong – I love the Thriving Artists Project, and I’m incredibly proud of it. But I’m also clear that what I want to create next is pointed in a slightly different direction.

What I am

As Action Studio guided me deeper into my business archetypes and my most passionate dreams, the shining truth revealed itself:

No, I am not an art marketing expert. I am an inspirationalist.

Brilliant, talented Nutty was the first to call me this, and I’m grateful for her perceptive vision. Sometimes it takes a view through someone else’s eyes to see what’s utterly obvious.

What do people email me all the time to say?

Not “wow, you helped me with my marketing,” but “you inspire me!”

What makes me utterly glow with delight to hear?

Not “I’m making more money thanks to you” (though of course that never sucks!), but “you’ve inspired me to create again!”

What’s the big vision that’s always in front of my eyes?

Of course I want to see all artists thriving, handsomely paid for the value we create. But that’s not my big, big dream.

My big, big dream is that everyone on the planet is connected with their creative source, playing in the Creative Sandbox, living in their fullest joy and sharing that with the world.

That’s what makes my heart leap and my soul sing!

My Big Why

I was fortunate to have amazing opportunities growing up. I got to do music and art in the schools. My parents could afford to give me piano lessons. My grandmother bought me a set of oil paints and taught me how to use them. I had my parents’ permission and support to immerse myself in dance as a teenager, and later even to drop out of UC Berkeley to pursue my dream of dancing at Juilliard in New York.

Even so, even with all of those opportunities, I found myself cut off from my creativity.

Even with a supportive family (who, I later learned, dreamed that I might grow up to be an artist!), I got sucked in by the louder cultural voices that told me that creative expression wasn’t important.

Better I should find the cure for cancer. Or feed the hungry. Or fight for the oppressed.

Even making a lot of money, the voices told me, was more important than feeding my creative soul.

I hate to admit it, but I bought the lie. And though I didn’t grow up to find the cure for cancer, or feed the world, or end oppression, or even make a lot of money (more’s the pity!) – even though I built a business directly from my art – I still found myself disconnected from my creative source.

Life felt stunted. Black and white. Lacking.

The cure was re-connecting with my own creative passion.

I know how powerful and important this was – and continues to be – for me. And I know how hard it can be to maintain.

That is my goal: fanning the flames of creativity wherever I see them.

That’s what I’ll be focusing on here, so join me if you like.

To be continued…

Aforementioned time-sensitive info follows here

Meanwhile, if you’re ready to build a career as an artist, I highly recommend you check out my friend Michele Théberge’s free teleseminar, Five Keys to Success: Creating a Soul-Infused Art Career, happening today.

I met Michele when I interviewed her for the Thriving Artists Project. She inspired the hell out of me (in fact, it was that interview with Michele that got me back to my own daily practice, starting with my 15 minutes a day commitment).

Since then we’ve become friends. I’ve gotten to know Michele and have huge respect for her. She has been a professional artist for over 22 years, with work exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. She is also a beloved teacher who is passionate about the creative process and inspiring others to commit to their art practice and get their work out in a bigger way.

One thing I know about her is she is extremely generous when it comes to sharing what she knows about being an artist and committed to supporting others.

And she’s doing it for FREE in her teleclass “5 Keys to Success: Creating a Soul-Infused Art Career” TODAY, Wednesday, May 25, at 8 pm EDT/5 pm PDT

Find out more and sign up here: http://bit.ly/jOE2sF

But do it fast, because the teleclass starts in just a few hours!

Full disclosure: I am an affiliate with Michele, which means that if you end up signing up for her Artists Mentorship Program I’ll earn a commission. However, I believe so strongly in what she’s doing that I’d tell you about it even if I weren’t an affiliate. And if you don’t sign up, or if you sign up through some other link, I’ll never know about it anyway. ;)

Hope to see you on the call!

Note 4/28/11: The call with Sinclair already happened, BUT you can still sign up by clicking here and I’ll email you the recording. Major epiphanies were involved!

–

Did you hear the news?

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 5pm PST I’m doing a special call with the brilliant Sinclair of Self Activator, and you’re invited! Register here to join us (it’s totally free, and if you can’t be live on the call, you’ll still get to hear the recording).

Sinclair will be talking about 3 ways she sees creative entrepreneurs stallout between the passion they’ve got, and a strategic lucrative biz that creates the impact they want. (Sound familiar?)

In other words, the stuff that keeps creatives stuck, poor and playing small. (Btw, watch for more on that theme real soon from these quarters… hint, hint…)

Plus I hear the call will reveal some backstage secrets from Action Studio, which is about to relaunch. And who doesn’t like secrets?

Oh, and Sinclair might even “hotseat” somebody – help you pinpoint ways you can get past your own stallouts. But of course you gotta be live on the call for that.

The backstory

(In case you haven’t read it already):

I’ve followed Sinclair over the past year, taken advantage of a number of her free offerings (and gotten enormous, mind-shifting value from them). I’ve watched her grow her business by being totally herself, and totally un-spammy.

I was impressed. More than impressed.

I wanted to be like her!

Or, well, not like her — I wanted to be totally me, but totally rockin’ it as me the way she’s totally rockin’ it as her. Capiche?

So when I decided it was time to level up my business and work with a coach, Sinclair was the one I chose to work with.

The plot

Part of that picture is that I’ll be a participant in Action Studio 2.0. I’m ready to take my creative biz to the next level, and I know Action Studio is gonna help me do that in a big way.

Of course, we’re all on different paths, and that’s cool. Not everyone is going to be in the right place for a course like Action Studio. I wasn’t, when it originally launched some months back. But you can learn a lot from seeing shifts that are happening for other people. Which is, of course, why I share so much about my own journey on this blog!

Plus with Sinclair, you can learn a lot from her free stuff! And she’s giving out free stuff like crazy right now, in the lead-up to the launch.

Including Tomorrow’s (Thursday’s) call. Hope you can make it!

I also strongly recommend you sign up to get your name on the door, so you can get all that free goodness for yourself. Today Sinclair sent a questionnaire that revealed what archetypes you most strongly resonate with, which got the wheels spinning in my head. (I’m a Creator/Caretaker. Surprised?)

The sub-plot

If you are in the right place to do Action Studio this time around, I’ll sweeten the deal by offering 3 hours of my time to drill down into your blocks, uncover your gifts, and strategize how to best use your passions to create total abundance in your life and biz. Plus I’ll include a year of access to the Thriving Artists Project for you or a friend.

At my current pricing, that’s almost $550 in added value. And priceless if you think about how much it will push you and your business forward.

Either way, sign up for the call and be ready to glean some awesomeness from it (and bring your questions). Can’t wait to see you there!

xo,
Melissa